Tracked vehicles are well known and use an endless track to support a vehicle on the ground. Conventionally, such a track is formed from a plurality of shoes arranged in seriatim and entrained around a pair of sprockets. Typically, idlers are provided between the sprockets to provide additional support for the track. In some cases, the track may be utilized in conjunction with a conventional wheel vehicle so that the wheel of the vehicle becomes a drive sprocket and an additional idler or tension wheel is provided at a location spaced from the wheel. It is also known to utilize tracks simply entrained about the circumference of a wheel to provide an increased footprint for the wheel which consequently reduces ground pressure.
The shoes that form the track are connected to one another by hinge pins that allow limited pivotal movement or articulation between adjacent shoes. The axis for articulation is transverse to the direction of motion of the vehicle, i.e. parallel the axis of rotation of the drive sprockets. Conventionally, the shoe is formed from a steel forging or fabrication and the hinge pins utilize a bearing system to accommodate relative movement between the shoes. These bearing arrangements maybe roller bearings or, more typically, are metal bushings that accommodate relative rotation between the pin and the shoe and as such require seals. The tracks have to operate in hostile environments and, accordingly, wear on the bearings and failure of the seals is a significant problem.
A further problem encountered with conventional tracks is the damage that may be incurred through using a metal track on an asphalt or concrete. The action of the shoes is relatively aggressive and may cause permanent damage to such a surface. Moreover, the metal shoes are noisy in operation.
It is therefore an object to the present invention to provide a track and a shoe for such a track that obviates or mitigates the above disadvantages.